Never Given The Chance
by Freddielou
Summary: Is it better never knowing the truth, rather then having to go through the pain?
1. Chapter 1

**Never Given The Chance**

**Disclaimer: **None of the characters from Thunderbirds belongs to me. Any others are the figment of my crazy mind.

Is it better never knowing the truth rather then having to go through the pain?

This is a story that just wouldn't leave my head till I wrote it down. It's a sad story though as I am in that sort of mood. This is TV verse as it fits better somehow.

* * *

**Chapter 1** **Lucie Grace**

Alan walked away from his mother's grave unable to look at it anymore. It was the anniversary of her death and every year they came here to lay flowers and remember her. Well his brothers did, he didn't remember anything about her. Sure they told him stuff about her but it just wasn't the same. She had died giving birth to him so he didn't have any of the memories they all wandering had led him to a tiny white grave beside a huge oak tree. It seemed a very peaceful place. His eyes were drawn to the inscription on the tiny gravestone.

**Here Lies**

**Lucie Grace Mitchell Tracy**

**Born 12th March **

**Died 13th March **

**Sleep tight **

**Our little angel.**

A hand tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to see his brothers standing behind him.

"What you doing over here bro?" asked Scott.

"Nothing really," he replied looking back down at the little stone.

The others followed his gaze and read the inscription too. They all turned to look at each other, to see if anyone recognised the name.

"I wonder if she was related to us," said Alan.

"I can't remember dad saying anything about us having any other relations in the area," replied John.

"Well it's not like we have an unusual last name. It probably has nothing to do with us," said Gordon.

"She only lived one day. That's so sad," said Virgil.

"Time to head back guys," said Scott. The others nodded and slowly moved away.

One of them paused and looked back at the tiny grave. There was something about it that kept drawing his eyes back to it but he couldn't explain what it was. Shrugging the thought off for a moment he jogged off after his brothers.

* * *

Later that day found one of the brothers at his computer. He just couldn't get that little tiny grave out of his head so he was doing a little research into it. He wasn't having a lot of luck in finding anything out about it though. Suddenly an article caught his eye.

**Mitchell: Lucy Grace died 13th March in Kansas State Hospital. Though you were only with us a short time, never will we forget you, our little angel.**

The young man wiped away the stray tear that had fallen down his cheek and closed the laptop down. He then walked swiftly into the lounge.

"Dad can I have a word?" he asked.

"Of course you can son. What is it?" asked Jeff moving to sit beside him.

"May I have a few days off to visit an old friend?"

"I'm sure I can arrange that. Is everything ok?"

"Yes fine dad, there is just someone I need to see. When can I go?" he asked standing up.

Jeff wandered over to his desk and checked his diary. "You could go tomorrow if you want," he replied.

"Brilliant thanks dad," said the young man before heading out of the room to get packed.

Jeff watched his son leave feeling a little worried. He could tell something was bothering him and he hoped it wasn't anything too serious.

* * *

Tracy 1 landed effortlessly on the local airstrip the family used whenever they were visiting the area. A young man alighted and walked over to the waiting rental. He had called ahead so everything would be ready for him. A man in overalls came strolling up to him.

"Good morning Mr Tracy. Here are the keys to your car and the other details you requested," said the man handing over some keys and a folded piece of paper.

"Thanks Harry."

"Anytime Sir. Is there anything else?"

"No that's it. Thanks Harry," he repeated before turning away and climbing into the car.

He then opened the note to find the address of the person he was looking for. He was surprised to see she was still living in her parents home as she had always hated living there when he was younger. He started the car and drove off.

He soon pulled onto the drive of a large house similar to the one he and his brothers had grown up in. In fact his family home was just down the street. He parked and climbed out of the car. For a moment he paused looking up at the house remembering all the times he had been here when he was young.

Slowly he approached the door and knocked. A few moments later a young woman opened it. She hadn't changed much since he had last seen her. Her hair was longer and slightly darker but she still had the beautiful soulful green eyes that he remembered.

"Hello Lexie," he said softly.

"Oh my word," she replied staring at him in shock.

* * *

**_Authors Note: Well that's chapter 1 done. I hope you enjoyed it. Now the question is can you work out which brother it is who is so intrigued by the gravestone? _**

**_Please read and review. This is my first fan fiction so I hope it wasn't too awful. Sorry it's a little short but this was the perfect place to leave it. The next chapter will be longer I promise._**


	2. Chapter 2 Why

**Never Given The Chance**

**Disclaimer: **Please see Chapter 1.

**_I see I piqued your interest with my deliberate lack of not naming the main character. I hope you will be happy when you find out who it is. Thanks to everyone who reviewed._**

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**Chapter 2: Why?**

"What are you doing here?" she asked when she could finally speak.

"I need to talk to you, can I come in?" he asked.

Lexie said nothing but stepped back allowing him to enter the house. She then guided him into the kitchen and turned on the kettle.

"What are you doing here?" she asked turning back to face him.

"I need to ask you something," he replied.

"Oh really. What on earth could you possibly want to ask me after all these years," she said pouring the boiling water into the cups and adding the coffee.

"Is Lucie Grace mine?" he asked, as she turned round. At the mention of her name, Lexie dropped the cups she was holding and stared at him in horror.

"How do you know about her?" asked Lexie leaning back against the counter for support.

"I saw her grave and put two and two together."

"I knew putting your name on it would be a mistake," she replied kneeling down to clean up the mess from the broken coffee cups.

"So why did you then?" he asked getting up to help her.

"I don't know, it seemed right at the time."

"So she is mine then I take it?"

"Yes she is," she said quietly standing up and placing all the broken bits into the bin.

"Why didn't you ever tell me about her?"

"Because it has nothing to do with you," she replied and walked over to the sink.

"How the hell you can say that Lexie," he accused angrily.

"Because it's true," she said softly.

"What?" he asked spinning her around to face him. He kept his hands on her shoulders so she couldn't escape.

"It's true. Even If she hadn't of died, you wouldn't have been in her life and you know it," she said angrily trying to get out of his grip.

"You don't know that."

"Oh come on. Do you really think your dad would have let you give up College and your dreams to become a dad, I don't think so."

"I'm sure we could have worked something out Lex," he said calming down.

"You know it would never have worked. Would you really have been happy giving up your dreams?" she asked staring deep into his eyes.

"Maybe not happy but I would have coped Lexie. You should have told me."

"I wanted to but I didn't want to ruin your life. You deserved the chance to live your dreams. I didn't want to be the one who stood in the way of that," she said finally shrugging him off and moving away.

"You still shouldn't have had to go through it alone Lexie."

Lexie sat down at the table but didn't say anything.

"How did she, I mean what happened?" he asked moving to sit beside her.

"Car accident. Some idiot jumped a red light and crashed straight into me. The crash caused me to go into premature labour but I was only 25 weeks gone. She lived for about 19 hours before her heart finally gave out. She was so tiny but so beautiful. She had your eyes," explained Lexie, tears pooling in her eyes.

"Do you have any pictures of her?" he asked fighting back his own tears.

Lexie just opened the drawer and handed him a small bundle of photos. She was so tiny and beautiful. Lexie was right though she did have his eyes.

"I was going to tell you actually," she said finally looking up at him.

"You were?"

"Yeah when you came back for Christmas, I was going to tell you then but I never made it that far," she said sadly.

"Why didn't you tell me when she died? I could have been there for you."

"I didn't want you to have to go through that. You had already lost one person you cared about."

"Is that why you named her Lucy?"

"Yeah it just seemed right somehow."

"How come nobody else told me? Surely our friends must have known?" he asked. He couldn't get his head around the fact that no one had told him he was a dad.

"I only had a small bump and I managed to hide it really well. A couple of them noticed but I told them it was a one night stand after you left."

"But what about after she died. They must have realized then?"

"Most of our friends had moved away by then and the ones that stayed believed the one night stand lie. We kept her death fairly quiet, I didn't want a fuss."

"You didn't want the father there either," he said harshly.

"Oh come on, it would have been a media circus. Think about the headlines 'Millionaire's son gets girl pregnant and goes off to University leaving her to cope alone'. They would have slaughtered you in the press and neither you nor your family deserved that."

Though it was hard, he had to admit that she was right. The press would have been crawling all over them and it would have made an awful day even harder. They had been everywhere at his mother's funeral and it had been hell.

"Everyday for the first few weeks after she died, I wanted to call you and tell you about her but I couldn't. I didn't want to put you through all that pain. I thought it would be easier this way."

"Easier. How was it easier? I didn't even know my own daughter was dead," he said angrily standing up.

"Because you never had to deal with it. You didn't have to come to terms with the fact that because some idiot wanted to get to work quicker your daughter is dead. You didn't have to arrange a funeral and you haven't spent the last few years going through all the what-ifs in your head. So yeah it was easier," she said angrily.

"No I didn't because you never even gave me the chance. I had a right to know, I should have been there and I will never forgive you for that," he said storming to the door.

"I'm sorry," she said softly as he left the room.

He ignored her and stormed out of the house. He was soon in his rental and on his way back to the Airstrip where he had left his plane.

He was soon aboard his plane and on his way home. How could she not have told him about her? He deserved to know that he had a daughter. She had only lived 19 hours but if he had known then maybe he could have been there with her for that time. He might have even been able to hold her for a little while and tell her about her grandpa and her Uncles. However, it had all been denied because Lexie had kept it a secret and he wasn't sure he would ever get over that.

* * *

When he got home, he headed straight for the lounge where he knew the rest of his family was. They needed to know about her and he had to talk or he would go mad.

"Hello son," said Jeff with a smile. The others also gave him various greetings.

"Hey everyone," he replied and no one could miss the tone in his voice.

"What's the matter son?" asked Jeff walking over to him.

"I have something to tell you but I think we should all sit down," he replied and everyone took a seat nearby. They were all worried now.

"Alan do you remember that grave you found under the tree?" he asked turning to his baby brother.

"Yeah what about it?" asked Alan in reply.

"Well I couldn't get it out of my head for some reason, so I did a little research into it and found something out."

"Oh god," said Virgil who had realized what his brother had found out.

"What grave was this?" asked Jeff feeling confused.

"Alan found a little tiny grave under a tree. The inscription said that the name was uh Lucy Grace Tracy I believe," explained Gordon.

"Yes it did and she was my daughter," he said sadly.

Looks of shock, anger and sadness crossed their faces as the news sunk in. Virgil approached and wrapped his arm around him.

"I'm so sorry Scott," he said softly.

* * *

_**Authors Note: Yes, she was Scott's daughter. In the next chapter, you will find out the family's reactions to this news. How will they all take it?**_

_**Hope you all enjoyed this and aren't too disappointed with who daddy was. Please read and review thanks.**_


	3. Chapter 3 Coming to Terms

**Never Given The Chance.**

**Disclaimer: **Please see Chapter 1.

_**Well this is the last chapter. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed so far.**_

* * *

**Chapter 3: Coming to Terms.**

"I had a granddaughter?" queried Jeff in shock.

"Yes you did," said Scott quietly.

"What happened to her?" asked John softly moving to the other side of Scott. They made sure they stayed on either side of him for support and although Scott didn't want to admit it. He was glad of their comforting presence.

"She was born too early and was too small to survive."

"The poor thing," said Grandma moving to sit down beside her son who looked devastated.

"Apparently Lexie was in a car accident and it caused her to go into premature labour. They doctors did what they could but she only lasted 19 hours. I was a dad for 19 hours and I had no idea," he said standing up. Virgil could sense the anger coming from his brother now. "How could she not tell me that I was a dad? I had a right to know but she denied me that. It's not fair," he stated angrily pacing around the room.

"Bro you need to calm down," said Virgil standing up and walking over to him.

"I can't," he said and stormed out of the room.

Virgil followed him out, knowing exactly where his older brother was headed. The others stayed seated still in shock about what they had just learnt.

"Should we go after them?" asked Alan.

"No I think Virgil is the only one he will talk to right now," replied John when he noticed that his dad wasn't going to say anything.

"Honey are you ok?" Ruth asked her son.

"Yeah just a little shocked that's all," he replied.

"I think we all are son."

"How could she not tell him though?" asked Alan.

"I'm sure she had her reasons," replied Ruth.

"What possible reason could she have for denying us the right to know our niece?" asked Gordon angrily.

"She was probably scared," replied John.

"Yes, she was only young too remember," added Ruth not wanting to cast aspersions on the young girl yet.

"Your grandmother is right. We can't cast judgement on the young woman until we know the circumstances," said Jeff effectively ending the conversation.

* * *

Virgil meanwhile had found Scott sitting on a large rock beside the sea. He sat down beside his brother but said nothing. He could see that Scott wanted to talk but he wasn't quite ready yet.

"I was a dad Virge and I had no idea," he said finally.

"I'm sorry bro," he said sadly wishing there was something he could do to help his brother.

"I just can't get my head around all this."

"You're not the only one," replied Virgil thinking how their father had reacted.

"Oh god. Is dad ok?" asked Scott.

"He will be. I'm more worried about you."

"I'm fine just a little angry."

Virgil said nothing but raised one eyebrow at his older brother. It was just like Scott to make out he was fine when he wasn't. Virgil knew his brother was nowhere near fine.

"Ok I'm not fine. I don't really know what I am."

"I do. You are confused as to why she didn't tell you. Hurt because she denied you the right to see your little girl. Angry because she kept it from you and sad because you never even got to meet her or hold her," replied Virgil knowingly.

"How do you do that?" asked Scott. He was always amazed at how easily Virgil could read him.

"The same way you do it to me because I know you."

"Yeah I guess you do. I just wish she had called me as soon as she gave birth. I could have been there for her."

"Maybe she couldn't Scott?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well you said it was an accident that brought on the labour so maybe she was too injured too call you at the time."

"I never thought of that."

"For what's it worth Scott. I can see her point."

"You can?"

"Think about it Scott. What would you have done if she had told you she was pregnant?"

"I would have supported her and been there for her. Sure dad wouldn't have been happy but he would have come round eventually. I could have got a job at Tracy Industries and it would have been fine."

"But would you have been happy Scott?"

"What do you mean?" he asked jumping down from off the rock.

"Would you have been happy giving up college, the Air Force and had things worked out International Rescue too?"

"I still could have joined International Rescue," said Scott watching as Virgil climbed down.

"Maybe but you wouldn't have gained the skills that you have now. The skills that make you our Field commander."

Scott knew that Virgil was making a good point. If he hadn't joined the Air Force then he wouldn't be the top pilot he is today and probably wouldn't be the pilot of Thunderbird 1. Plus would his dad have allowed him to bring Lexie and his daughter with him anyway. They were all about secrecy here so he may not have even allowed them to come with him anyway. The main thing that stood out though was would he have been happy to join knowing he could very easily leave his daughter without a dad. Would Lexie have been happy to let him go out on rescues knowing he might never return? It was a lot for someone to try to deal with.

"I guess your right," he said finally startling Virgil who was staring out at the ocean whilst Scott was thinking.

"I don't want to be trust me," he said with a gentle smile.

"I just wish I had known."

"I know you do Scott but you can't change what has already happened. You need to deal with this Scott or it will destroy you," said Virgil touching him gently on the shoulder.

"I know and talking to you has helped but I need a little time alone to think now," he said smiling at his brother.

"Okay Scott. You know where I am if you need me. Just don't stay out too long though," he said.

Scott grinned at him, knowing that was exactly what he would have said. "I won't."

"Good," said Virgil and he jogged off back down the beach.

Scott strolled off in the opposite direction feeling a little better since he had spoken to Virgil.

* * *

Two weeks later and Scott found himself back in the graveyard. He wanted to visit his daughter's grave and lay some flowers down. He knelt down in front of it wanting to say something but not knowing what. What do you say to someone you don't know. His gaze drifted over to where his Mom's grave was.

"I hope you are looking after her mom," he said softly. A soft breeze blew through the trees and seemed to whisper yes to Scott.

He stood up preparing to leave knowing that he didn't need to actually say anything at all. As he turned he spotted Lexie approaching. She spotted Scott and instantly turned back round to walk off again.

"Lexie wait," he called out.

She paused but didn't turn around and face him. Scott couldn't blame her for that though as he had been really awful to her.

"I'm sorry Lex," he added and this time she turned around.

"What?" she asked in total surprise.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you Lexie, I didn't mean it," he said taking a step towards her.

"Yes you did Scott, so don't lie," she retorted angrily.

"I'm not. I have had a lot of time to think about this and I can understand why you did what you did," he explained moving closer to her.

"You can?" she asked moving to sit down on a nearby bench.

"Yeah and I'm sorry for saying I would never forgive you. It was cruel of me."

"It doesn't matter Scott and I don't blame you for it either."

"I don't blame you either. I know you were only doing what you thought was right."

"It wasn't though. I should have told you," she said standing up.

"Maybe but we can't change the past. We both have to move on with our lives," he said standing up as well.

"Yes you're right we do. Maybe one day you will be able to tell your own children about their big sister," she said walking back over to the grave.

"I hope so. What about you?" he asked.

"I can't. There were complications after the birth and it's not possible for me to have anymore," she replied softly.

"Oh Lexie, I'm so sorry."

"Hey it's ok. I came to terms with it a long time ago. Plus there's always surrogacy or adoption," she said positively.

"Yeah I guess so," he said with a smile. Lexie had always been a positive person.

"Well I better go. I have to be at work in an hour."

"Yeah I gotta be going too," he said.

"Goodbye Scott Tracy," she said giving him a quick hug.

"Goodbye Alexa Mitchell," he replied before heading off in the opposite direction.

He strolled back to his car feeling a lot happier then he had for the last couple of days. It would still take time to truly come to terms with this but he knew now that he could. He also knew that every time he came to visit his mom, he would always stop at her grave too.

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_**Authors Note: Well that's it for my first story. I hope you enjoyed it. Special thanks go to Lissysue for all the help she has given me.**_

_**Please read and review to let me know what you think. Thanks.**_


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